Grand Norwich Duck Race 2014 – meet Wolverduck

Each year, we support a great local cause – Break Charity, in their Grand Norwich Duck Race, by sponsoring a giant rubber duck and transforming it into, well, anything that takes our fancy really. The ducks then take part in a the Grand Norwich Duck Race onAugust 2nd in the city centre (see some of the photos from 2013 here) and are afterwards auctioned off to raise funds for the charity. So far we haven’t had a winner (robbed), but we think we’ve got an unbeatable duck this year … literally.

Break are a registered charity which has been providing a diverse range of specialist residential and community based services for vulnerable children, young people and families across East Anglia for over 40 years. The duck race is always a popular event, and as well as the corporate ducks there is also a smaller duck race where each duck can be sponsored for £2, with plenty of great prizes. For more info, see their events page.

You might remember last year we posted a blog (here) about our minion duck, Adrian. It seems Adrian was quite a popular chap and was auctioned off for a good sum. He is no doubt now hatching plans to take over the world/steal the moon etc. Remember who made you what you are, Adrian …

Adrian the Minion

Because Adrian did so well, we wondered how we can top him this year? There were a lot of suggestions on topical events – the World cup for example (now I think about it, Suarez duck could have been fun, if not a little bitey), a soldier for WW2 and many more. Because I get tasked with this each year, and with an unashamed love of cult TV and film, he just had to be someone recognisable and easy to make cool. And so, James Howlett, aka Logan, aka Wolverduck, the hub of the X men, was born.

The invincible Wolverduck

Considering Wolverine is made of the strongest substance known to man an entirely realistic skeleton of metal, in a duck swimming race, wasn’t going to be our wisest move. But just like his counterpart, Wolverduck is all about the blades. Thanks to the work of a handy father in law and some spray paint the adamantium was ready to go.

In my last blog about Adrian, I mentioned a slight problem with my small children wanting to ‘help’ make the duck. This year, lessons were learnt and Wolverduck lived on top of the fridge for a long time (I like to think he was pondering existence and not just extremely bored). However, I didn’t apply the same lessons to the can of spray paint, and after leaving the room for a whole 2 seconds, found my patio doors looked like (an unskilled) Banksy had visited. Thanks boys.

Wolverduck enjoying the facilities at Adrian Flux HQ

Wolverduck has made some friends this year via his twitter page, including a gangster duck, a concrete walrus (we think), Ducky Parton (yup, she looks like you’d imagine), a chef and even the green oracle himself, Yoda . Take a look at #gndr14 or the official twitter account to find many more brilliant creations. It’s great to see so many companies joining in the duck chat/rivalry on twitter, with some serious duck banter happening – Wolverduck has even threatened to cheat just to ensure he remains invincible.

Wolverduck cheating

With only 3 days left, Wolverduck has now gone into training for the big day. Given his mutant counterpart’s inability to be beaten, we have high hopes for him this year. Tactically, we’re also relying on all the other ducks being too busy looking at Ducky Parton or following the Hot Chip duck (what duck doesn’t love a chip) and sneaking through for the win.

The auction will take place (after some water damage control!) on August 14th for Break Charity, so if you’d like to own Wolverduck or any of his duck friends, follow Break on twitter for more details.